Modus vivendi for benefit worldwide

In China, Confucius is called The Sage. Considering there is no state religion, Confucius takes the place of grand justice over the country. As a matter of fact, China has a blend national composition from time immemorial. Many nations has their own religion, such as Buddhism, Mohammedanism, Taoism, and in modern times even Christianity. So, it is hard to imagine that China can live with only very little national estrangement and prejudice, let alone wars raised by national or religious cause. But it turns out to be the fact. What's incredible is that no matter which nation takes charge of China, it'll finally take Confucianism instead of their national worshipping idol as the token to reunite the people fractured during the war of the regime shifting. And it always works like a charm. Obviously, Confucius is not a the founder of a religion. He surpasses over the religions. It certainly does not mean the thoughts of Confucianists is better than the religion followers. It just goes along well with them. Confucius does not leave comments on whether there exists divinity or not. What he advocates is trying to educate people never to stop studying oneself, so as to reach a cultivated realm. Maybe this is an over-simplified statement. But one thing is for sure: Confucius cares about people themselves, and he is firmly convinced that only by never-stopped studying can people distinguish the correct from the incorrect; and only if the individuals have sense about the etiquette of the life, can the society be properly governed. Confucianism builds the political system upon the ritual ceremonies, and puts the people at the central position. By evaluation of the Confucianists, benevolence is over the most important and ideal quality that one should possess. Confucianism does allow war to be an option as one of the solutions for some problems, but almost always the last one. In a word, Confucianism mainly relies on the modus vivendi, and other behaviors for larger group are based on it. It really makes sense. For individuals, or families, are the cells of the societies organized in any form. That's why Confucianism is not only a window for one to get to know China and its society, but also a panacea for any politicians or managers facing any kind of headaches in people management. Very often do we think the problems are with a program or system. But actually every program and system is carried out by specific people. In most western countries and some of the Asian countries, people become fanatical followers for laws and democratic rights, which gradually expose their Achilles' heels. When lawmakers and carriers stand on the side of the rich, or the people in power, they bring ordinary civilians merely more suffers and unfairenesses, and democracy, in most cases, is only a game for those who can operate the result. However, Confucianism tells us to keep a good psychology when not treated fully fairly, and never to behave too aggressive. We can see the value of this in the world nowadays full of conflictions and massacres over innocents. If everybody knows what is correct and behaves in correct ways, no conflictions any more. That is really a common sense but too few people are able to recognize it worth cherishing so much.

That's why I feel it my duty introducing the Confucianism at this time point. The text chosen is the famous The Analects of Confucius. The verbatims of Confucius are seen in many documents of ancient China, such as Lieh-Tze and The Doctrine of the Mean. But The Analects of Confucius is among the first ones, and also the most complete one. Many sentences within the book are taken as the proverbs which still have unimaginable influences on the Chinese behaviors and values today. I am not going to only translate the texts. I'd like to make comments on each piece of text using plain English to explain how it is applicable to ordinary life. Without special training, even Chinese can hardly understand the highly polished sentences of which The Analects of Confucius consists. I believe that many people can do better translations than me do. But I am sure I can make better explanations than most people, since I have good understanding of both Chinese and western life styles and the ways of thinking. And, needless to say, bridging the gap between these two counterparts is only too important. A common saying is translators, traitors. I hope my notes can bring all a better understanding of the original text of Confucius, a sage from China, whose idea not only will immediately help you improve your personal life become more happy and decent, but also surely benefit a whole lot if you persevere Confucianism as a long-term philosophy.